It is known to support an antenna on a mast, which is in turn mounted on the upper end of a tower supported adjacent its lower end for pivotal movement about a horizontally disposed axis, so as to allow the antenna to be lowered into a position adjacent to the ground in order to facilitate access to the antenna. However, while some access to an antenna is affixed when a tower is tilted into a position near the ground, such access is somewhat limited in case of larger antennas by ground engagement of the ends of the antenna boom or elements, which may have lengths exceeding thirty and forty feet respectively. Further lowering of the antenna may be permitted by use of a ladder to access a boom-mast clamp securing the boom to the mast in order to permit swinging movement of the antenna about the axis of the boom to lie more or less parallel to the ground. After work on the antenna is completed, the tower must be partially raised and a ladder again used to afford access to the boom-mast clamp for the purposes of clamping the boom relative to the mast, such that they are retained in desired orientation relative to the mast when the tower is again swung into its normal upstanding or use position.
It has been proposed to telescopically mount a mast in order to permit lowering of an antenna, but again a ladder may be required to afford access to the antenna. The use of ladders tends to be time consuming and undesirable from a safety standpoint.
It has been a common practice for the case of antenna mounted fixed upright towers to use a crane or high lift to provide access to the antenna, but again this requires one or more workers to work in an elevated position above the ground where access to the individual elements is somewhat limited.